“In digital era, privacy must be a priority. Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?” – Al Gore

Social networks have changed the way we communicate, do business, get our daily lives fixed and so much more. We now have the ability to connect to other people all over the world. Whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, or any mobile devices allow us to access information, entertain ourselves, and communicate with each other more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Electronic devices are not merely convenient, they empower the consumers. Soon, we created another new world, where non-existence becomes reality – the virtual society.

As citizens of virtual society, we get the privilege to maintain contact with friends and families using social media, to find our destinations by simply just click on google maps, make online purchases, play games to receive pleasure, and not to forget, there are also infinite applications to tend our other needs. With just a few taps of our finger, we can navigate through numerous complex actions with ease.

However, there are always two sides to every story. In the real world, thieves, kidnappers, murderers, stalkers exist. Same goes to the virtual society. We’ve all been educated to steer clear of suspicious looking people and to avoid face-to-face interactions with strangers. When someone is trailing behind us, we can at least run to the police station or call for help. But online, we wouldn’t even see it “coming”. Not only will it be easier for them to find victims, their identities are also concealed. Our seemed-to-be- perfect virtual world, therefore, is the perfect place for them to stay “out of sight”, waiting for the right moment to strike.

While ad blocking, deleting cookies and erasing web history can help cut down on targeted posts and data collection on our computers, we might not be as wary when it comes to mobile devices. Ad blockers and history deletion are available on mobile, but we may be oblivious to our other privacy features being compromised unless we take control of them.

There are many ways that our “trusty” phones are betraying us by tracking our locations, app usage, and preferences so that online advertisers can learn more about the users and create customized ads on our mobile devices. When we encounter physical attacks, we’ll at least try to fight back in order to protect ourselves from harm. In addition, it is even more important to set up our self-defense in virtual society.

In some phone’s default settings allow many, if not all, apps to track their current locations unless it is turned off in settings. There are other ways, including turning on “limit ad tracking” and turning off “background app refresh,” to limit data collection on our phones. The Blur app is an easy way to discover the ways advertisers attempt to track our information and stop ad tracking. Additionally, Blur keeps our identity safe with its Masked Email, Masked Phone, and Masked Cards features which allow us to keep our passwords secure and our personal information masked.

Nonetheless, the easiest way to prevent being targeted is to “never give out personal information”. It is equivalent to saying “don’t invite strangers into personal living quarter”. We should never give out our name, age, address, school name, phone number or photos of ourselves online, in chat rooms, by email, or any occasions. To keep our community safe, we can never underestimate our enemies from hacking through our defenses. Revealing personal information means creating more weakness to ourselves.

Moreover, don’t talk to strangers or respond to strange requests. When a kidnapper creeps up on you, will you turn around to hug him? The answer is “no”. We usually let our guards down when there are no visible threats. But talking to them will just give them more opportunity to find our weakness.

We need to avoid compromising our privacy and protect our online identity, starting from today. And remember, always be cautious, citizens of virtual society.

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“Eboost Token First Of Its Kind In Esports Wagering.” CalvinAyre.com. N. p., 2016. Web.